Fear of falling alters anticipatory postural control during cued gait initiation
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Ellmers, Toby
Maslivec, Amy
Young, Will
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Fear of falling can have a profound influence on anticipatory postural control during dynamic balance tasks (e.g., rise-to-toes and leg-raise tasks), with fearful individuals typically exhibiting postural adjustments of smaller magnitudes prior to movement onset. However, very little is known about how fear of falling influences the generation of anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) during gait initiation; a task in which producing smaller APAs may compromise stability. Sixteen young adults initiated gait as fast as possible following an auditory cue during two conditions: Baseline (ground level), and Threat (fear of falling induced via a platform raised 1.1 m). While the magnitude and duration of APAs did not change between conditions, participants executed steps of shorter lengths during Threat. As APAs during gait initiation are typically proportionate to the length of the first step, the APAs during Threat are therefore disproportionately large (given the shorter step length). We suggest that such failure to scale the APA to the magnitude of the motor output represents a fear-related ‘overcompensation’, whereby fearful participants sought to ensure that the APA was sufficient for ensuring that their centre of mass was positioned above the support leg prior to gait initiation. During conditions of threat, participants also exhibited greater postural sway prior to initiating gait (i.e., following the auditory cue) and took longer to generate the APA (i.e., impaired reaction). As greater reaction times during voluntary stepping is consistently associated with increased fall-risk, we suggest this as one mechanism through which fear of falling may reduce balance safety.
Date Issued
2020-07-01
Date Acceptance
2020-04-30
Citation
Neuroscience, 2020, 438, pp.41-49
ISSN
0306-4522
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
41
End Page
49
Journal / Book Title
Neuroscience
Volume
438
Copyright Statement
© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IBRO.This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Subjects
anticipatory postural adjustment
anxiety
emotion
postural sway
postural threat
stepping
1109 Neurosciences
1701 Psychology
1702 Cognitive Sciences
Neurology & Neurosurgery
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-05-12